Consumer Video Sets

Video Selections for Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism
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1. Video Set on the Consumer
The consumer, along with the laborer, capitalist and nation-state comprise the major elements of the culture of capitalism. Of these, the consumer arguably the most important, yet most difficult to maintain. From an anthropological and historical perspective the desire to buy and accumulate more and more stuff is relatively recent; furthermore, it is the most difficult element to maintain, since it requires that more and more luxuries, things we could largely do without, be transformed into necessities. The videos in this set examine some of the consequences of our need to consume more and more stuff and how people are convinced that they need more and more.

case of the humans....
a funny claymation video of a parasite called the "humans"
1:01

Greensumption: Is buying green the answer to the problems cause by mass consumption? This video provides a tongue-in-cheek look at how we can $hop against climate change!

4:47

Affluenza: The classic PBS documentary on consumption in America. First broadcast in the late 1990s (Pastor Ted Haggerty is interviewed on overconsumption), it remains an excellent description of mass consumption and its affects on individuals and societies.

50 minutes (in 6 parts). 2 3 4 5 6

Killing Us Softly 3 Advertising's Image of Women: The third film about how advertisers represent women and what it means to be a woman in our culture. This version examines how much (or how little) things have changed since the first version was made in the 1970s.

34 min

George Carlin on Materialism and Consumption
4:49

George Carlin Talks About Stuff: George Carlin's classic standup routine about the importance of 'stuff'. This was from his appearance at Comic Relief
5:08

The Story of Stuff : From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

(Or watch it in sections on You Tube: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7)

The Overspent American. An Interview with Juliet Shorr. The Overspent American challenges the inevitability of the consumer lifestyle by proposing alternatives to the work and spend cycle that has so many Americans feeling trapped and unfulfilled.
3:28

2057: The World in 50 Years: What would the world be like 50 years from now? This docu-drama delivers a vision of the future and relates it to technology that is currently being developed and tested. It also give a little idea of what options the consumers of the future will have.

51 Minutes

Advertising - What psychological tricks do they use?

What principles the sales industry uses to change your social reality (Excerpt from a psychology documentary about "Social Reality" with Philip Zimbardo)

3 minutes 49 seconds

Advertising in the year 2050: From Steven Speilberg's Minority Report

46 seconds

Captive Audience: Advertising Invades the Classroom: A brief clip on how marketers have managed to infiltrate schools to target the young.

4 min 30 seconds

Basic Training: Kinderculture in America (From The Corporation)
09:56

Children of Men - Advertising from the Future: A set of clips that were produced as part of the movie Children of Men.
2:16

Consumer Monster on the Streets: From adbusters.org - the consumer monster talks about consumerism....adbusters consumer consumerism anti-consumerism anti-capitalism resist resistance disobedience human humanity living
2:07